Fate of missing crew hangs as OWWA assures help on rescued Filipino seamen off Baltic sea
Rool-off vessel Finnbirch seen lying on its side
adrift in extremely bad weather.
Validation and verification is underway on the medical condition of Filipino seamen rescued off the Baltic Sea Wednesday. This, as the fate of one missing crew hangs, his identity yet to be confirmed alongside official word on whether he was among the ten Filipino crew on board ill-fated MV Finnbirch or four of the Swedish nationals part of the group.
The incident occurred at the height of a storm that hit parts of Scandinavia with high winds, rain and snow that disrupted train, road and ferry traffic in some areas. Rescuers were called in and reached the crew before the 17-knots "ro-ro" vessel sank. Immediate rescue proved difficult that had the crew jump overboard. Thirteen were saved thereafter as search and rescue efforts continue to locate the remaining one crew member.
International news wires reported of the strong winds with gust of up to 97 mph. Associated Press said the storm swept Germany's North Sea coast, uprooting trees, damaging roofs and disrupting ferry services to several islands.
AP also reported that at least 50,000 people in southern and central Sweden were rendered powerless as all bus lines in the capital of Stockholm were canceled Wednesday evening because of icy driving conditions.
An advisory from the Philippine Embassy received by the office of Noel Chavez, officer in charge of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) here, stated that the sunken vessel has ten Filipino crew members.
The advisory said seven out of the ten Filipino crew were initially confined at the Lanssjukhuset in Kalmar, Sweden. They are: Gilbert Salido, Benedicto Agngarayngay, Manuel Barcelona, Gerry Dupo, Rolando Esguerra, Leo Jose Talipe, and Wilfredo Ramos.
"The patients were suffering from a mild case of hypothermia while some have complained of pains in the stomach and joints," reads the advisory as it added that one among the seven Filipino patients sustained severe injuries.
The advisory further identified the three other Filipino seafarers as: Jose Noel Saquilayan, Ephraim Torre and Danilo Paras. It was not, however, stated as to where they were confined and what are their medical conditions.
A later advisory, however, reported that Danilo Paras died due to hypothermia hours after he was rescued. Paras was reportedly the last crewmember rescued from Finnbirch.
MV Finnbirch was part of Lindholm Shipping's fleet of vessels and recognized to be among the pioneers in roll on-roll off (roro). It has ten Filipino and four Swedish crew. The 500- foot long ship was on its regular roro service when hit by storm winds and high waves between Swedish islands of Gotland and Oland. It sailed from Finland and off to Denmark and usually with cargo of papers, woods, containers and semi-trailers.